Phil Mickelson Will Play at PGA Championship

PGA Tour golfer Phil Mickelson has confirmed that he will play in the fourth and final major of the year, the PGA Championship, which will take place at Hazeltine and it starts on August 13, and runs through August 16. One of Mickelson's three major victories were won at the PGA Championship in 2005 by one stroke. With Mickelson playing in the final major, he automatically becomes one of the favorites, with the crowd and the odds, to win this tournament.

Mickelson played a practice round at the Hazeltine golf course on Wednesday, with most of the holes being private, and not allowed to be covered by the media. Mickelson had played at Hazeltine only twice in his PGA Tour career. The first time was at the 1991 US Open, when Mickelson was only an amateur. He finished in a tie for 55th place. The second time was at the 2002 PGA Championship, and Phil finished in a tie for 34th place.

Mickelson, the #2 golfer in the world, missed the British Open last month, breaking the longest active streak of majors at 61. Mickelson missed his first major in more than fifteen years, so he can be with his wife, as she starts her recovery from breast cancer. His wife, Amy, had surgery on June 1st. At around the same time that Mickelson's wife had surgery, Mickelson got more bad news when his mother was also diagnosed with the same breast cancer.

Phil stated on his website that everything is going well with his wife and mother and he has had a great six weeks at home. Mickelson also said that he would have a tune-up tournament, before playing in the PGA Championship, saying he will compete in next week's Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio. Mickelson will also play in the Barclays Golf Tournament two weeks after the PGA Championship, and hinted on more tournaments if everything goes well.

Mickelson has played in twelve golf tournaments so far this year, and has won two of them, at Northern Trust Open and the World Golf Championships, better known as the CA Championship. The last major that Mickelson was involved in was the second major of the year, at the US Open, when he put up a strong showing, finishing in a tie for second place. Mickelson was leading the tournament late, but bogeyed two of the final holes, and dashed any chance of winning a fourth major championship.

Playing again professionally on the golf course is a good sign for Mickelson and hopefully things will be good for him and his family in the future.